Into the Spotlight

Bonsoir, tout le monde!
Moi, Sabine Bouchard- je suis née pour chanter. J'adorais toujours chanter. Mes amis et ma famille me disent que j'ai de jolie voix. J'espère qu'ils ne mentent pas!
I'm not sure if you guys know this or not, but I really love to sing, and I always have. I've been singing since I was a little girl. My first idol was French pop singer Alizée. She was a pretty big deal back in the early 2000s. She was to me what Hilary Duff was to many of the girls in the US. However, Alizée didn't really make a lasting impression on me- I wasn't a fan of hers for very long. Don't get me wrong, I still listen to some of her songs, but I've moved on to other singers. Obviously, Miley Cyrus was one of those singers! Now, Miley had a lasting impression on me, and I don't see that ever changing. Not only did she encourage me to keep on singing, she also encouraged me to learn English. I don't think my English would be as good is it is if it weren't for Miley!
Now, back to my singing. I sang along to everything, even Edith Piaf! My family and friends told me that I had a good voice, and I trusted them. I have even had strangers confront me and tell me that my voice was pretty good (my friends and I used to sing outside of the Palais des Beaux-Arts), but for some reason, I never felt like I could audition for the talent show at my American boarding school.
There was one reason for that. Taylor Rae Stewart.

Taylor was one of the first people I met when I came to the United States. I really wanted to be her friend after I saw her interacting with her friends. She seemed genuinely nice, talkative, and she had the image of just a sweet girl. Well, I stood corrected. She was all of those things to everybody else except for me. Taylor never really seemed to like me. Whenever I tried to talk to her, she kept her responses short and choppy. She sometimes even ignored me. Eventually, I quit trying to talk to her. I figured that she was probably treating me terribly because I was being too persistent in my quest to be her friend. I understand that kind of behavior is annoying, but that is how Lilly became my friend- Lilly harassed me in math class when I first came to the States. She needed help and turned to me. Back to Taylor, though, before I get too sidetracked...
Then, I heard her sing. She had an amazing voice, and I could tell that she liked to sing as much as I do. I later found out from Melanie that Taylor has a collection of her favorite song lyrics, and I do, too. (I'm obsessed with song lyrics, in case you didn't know.) Taylor wants to be a country singer while I want to be the next Miley Cyrus. Taylor also won the talent show three years in row! The talent show has only existed for those three years, too, and I'm sure Taylor is coming back this year for her fourth win.
I told Melanie to audition, too, because she does have a beautiful voice. It's gorgeous. It's so pure and crisp. Melanie can sing anything. Taylor's voice only works for country songs while mine only works for pop. Melanie, however, was uneasy about my suggestion. She knows that she can sing. She is just very shy and apprehensive, especially since she was bullied at her old middle school for being musically and academically gifted. People thought she was a snob because of her talents and smarts as well as her beauty. She also said that while she doesn't mind playing her instruments in front of large crowds, she doesn't like to sing in front of people. I told Melanie not to worry, and she finally gave into my demands. She said that she'd audition if I audition.
So there. I auditioned. I sang "Dream" by Miley Cyrus. It's one of my favorite songs of all time!

My reason for being scared to audition was different from Melanie's. I don't care about the size of the crowd. I love singing in front of people! I just didn't want to audition for something that would land me a place amongst Taylor. Even though I really haven't talked to her in years, I feel uncomfortable doing anything with her. She makes me feel awkward, and I probably have the same affect on her. When I began to sing, I felt so liberated. I didn't even think of Taylor during my audition! I thought of myself...and someday having a sold out world tour. After all, some of the lyrics to the song I sang are, "Nothing's ever out of reach, so dream, dream, dream." ;)

After my "performance", the "judges" (basically my fellow classmates Alyssa Edwards, Kailey Hopkins, and Kaya Antonmy) told me that made it! I will be performing in the talent show! I am completely elated! I believe that those three chose the contestants fairly because they normally do not like me. Kailey, um, actually told me that she hated me but could admit that I have a nice voice. I guess that was a compliment...a strange one, but a compliment nonetheless.

 

Oh, and it gets better! Guess who approached me after my audition?

OUI. Taylor!!! She ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. "You did great!" She told me. "You have such a nice voice, and I really like the song you sang. I think Miley should stick to singing songs like that!"

"Good luck in the talent show! I'm glad you auditioned. You have such a good chance of winning, actually. I think so, anyway," Taylor also added.
Maybe I was too tough on Taylor? I mean, yeah, I was annoying, and she might have been ruder about it than necessary. But maybe, just maybe, there was a misunderstanding on both ends? It's funny how something such as talent show auditions could bring us together after not really speaking for awhile. That's just the way life works, I guess. Everything happens for a reason. To top it all off, Taylor even wanted to pose for a silly photo with me...

I should have posted about this days ago, but things have been hectic around here. I'll be posting about decorating for the dance next time I post, and in between this post and that post, Sandrine might tell you about 8th grade graduation. Julien probably also wants to tell you about his life, too.

Sabine